Furniture legs



1962 H P. GLASS 3,033,635

FURNITURE LEGS Filed Sept. 6, 1960 F162. FIG.3. f

HENRY P. GLASS Patented May 8, 1962 ice 3,033,635 FURNITURE LEGS Henry P. Glass, 666 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 11, Ill. Filed Sept. 6, 1960, Ser. No. 53,951 2 Ciaims. (Cl. 312-256) The present invention relates to furniture and is particularly concerned with the leg construction of furniture of the cabinet or chest type, especially coordinated furniture.

More particularly the invention relates to furniture legs which may be readily detached during shipping or storage and which may be securely and easily attached without the use of auxiliary fastening means, such as screws, and without the use of any tools whatsoever.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide furniture leg structures which are simple in construction and conveniently attachable and removable, while saving shipping and storage space, packaging or crating expenses, and therefore shipping, storage as well as insurance costs.

Most present day furniture of the type contemplated requires a set of legs for each unit. If different units are to be coordinated and placed adjacent to each other, the proximate legs at adjacent ends of the units present an unsightly and, from the standpoint of decorative harmony, objectionable forest of legs which decorators desire to avoid. Moreover, it is diflicult to avoid gaps between adjacent furniture units which detract from theharmony of design.

It is, therefore, a further object of the invention to improve the appearance of conventional furniture by providing a furniture lock leg construction which eliminates the aforesaid unsightliness of forests of legs, as well as any gaps between adjacent units, while atthe same time making it possible to interlock and strengthen the joints between units and enhancing the overall appearance.

Other advantages, details and objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of adjacent furniture. units illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II- H in I FIG. 1 illustrating the interlocking leg feature of my invention;

FIG. 3 is a section through an end board of a unit showing the beveled undercut recesses cooperating with the locking grooves extending around the leg elements;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a portion of the adjacent end sections in accordance with FIG. 1 showing one form of lock leg construction separately and attachment and interlocking means with one leg attached;

FIG. 5 is a detail illustrating the interlocked condition of adjacent furniture units in dotted lines;

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the invention providing a double leg unit which is shown in mounted condition;

FIG. 7 shows the double leg unit of FIG. 6 and the engagement means therefor in separated condition, and FIFIG. 8 is a section taken along line VIII-VIII of The decorative and functional advantages of my invention are readily apparent from FIG. 1 where the adjacent cabinets generally indicated at 1 illustrate the manner in which such cabinets may not only be supported provided along three sides thereof with grooves 5a which are essentially of triangular shape and are defined by inwardly bevelled, intersecting planes 5b and 5c.

Each end panel 3 is provided with one or more recessed pocket or pockets 4 which, when placed adjacent one another are of substantially dovetail cross-section and the bevelled sides 6 of which correspond to the bevelled sides 5b, 5c of the locking blocks.

It should be noted that as the pockets 4 engage the locking blocks 5 the weight of the furniture units bears downwardly onto the legs 3 forcing the adjacent walls of the units closely together to eliminate any possible gap therebetween; in fact, the units to a certain extent press against each other, so that any possibility of a gap is prevented, thereby providing for compact and neat appearance.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 incorporates the same principle as that in accordance with FIGS. 1-5 but is somewhat simpler in construction. The locking leg element generally indicated at 7 combines two similar leg members 3 in a unitary structure in which the legs are connected by a yoke a. A triangular groove extends around the outer lateral and upper edge of the element to be received in pockets 4 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the embodiment in accordance with FIGS. 1-5. Conveniently the locking leg element 7 is shown as being made of three members, but it is obvious that it could be made of one single piece of wood without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The lock leg member could also be made with the dovetail grooves extending only along two sides thereof.

Having now described my invention with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, I do not wish to be limited thereto but what I desire to protect by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Lock leg construction for interlocking furniture units comprising a support element having a lower leg portion and an upper block portion having a groove extending into the peripheral edge thereof, said groove being defined by inwardly inclined sides, a recessed conformation in each of two adjacent furniture units having corresponding inwardly inclined sides, said conformations in said adjacent units registering with one another and being each open at the bottom to receive one side of said upper block portion to be supported thereon.

2. Lock leg construction for interlocking furniture units comprising a support element having a lower leg portion and an upper block portion having a groove extending into the peripheral edge thereof, said groove being 7 defined by inwardly inclined sides, a recessed conformaby mutual supporting members such as legs 2, but'are at 6 the same time interlocked in a manner that the end panels 3 contact each other to avoid any gap between them. The interlocking is accomplished by the locking blocks 5 at the upper ends of the supporting members which are tion in each of two adjacent furniture units having corresponding inwardly inclined sides, said conformations in said adjacent units registering with one another and each of said conformations being open at the bottom to receive and engage a corresponding side portion of said groove in said upper block portion to be supported thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 224,486 Spruce Feb. 10, 1880 344,893 Beard July 6, 1886 766,702 Knight Aug. 2, 1904 835,582 Tobey Nov. 13, 1906 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,075,460 France Apr. 14, 1954 

